Proximity navigation

ABSTRACT

A system and method that that triggers actions or sets of actions within a software application executed on a mobile device based at least in part on location identifiers.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to systems and methods fornavigating a software application. More specifically, certainembodiments of the present invention relate to systems and methods thattrigger actions or sets of actions within a software applicationexecuted on a mobile device based at least in part on locationidentifiers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Technology, such as the use of internet-connected tablets or othermobile devices, can help simplify and empower a sales process byproviding a sales associate, customer, or other user, supplementalinformation regarding products, promotions, and the like. For example,while moving to a region of a store based on a customer's expressedinterest in a type of product, a sales associate may navigate mobiledevice software to a corresponding section of the application to accessinformation regarding available products, price and promotioninformation, product specifications, and product reviews, among otherthings. At the present time, however, the amount of interaction requiredto navigate the software application is a barrier to interpersonalinteractions rendering the sales process unnatural because a salesassociate attempting to navigate the software application may bedistracted from focusing on the customer.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention asset forth in the remainder of the present application with reference tothe drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and/or method that triggers actions or sets of actions within asoftware application executed on a mobile device based at least in parton location identifiers, substantially as shown in and/or described inconnection with at least one of the figures, as set forth morecompletely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentinvention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, willbe more fully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary system in which arepresentative embodiment of the present invention may be practiced.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary computing system in which arepresentative embodiment of the present invention may be practiced.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for navigating asoftware application, in accordance with a representative embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Aspects of the present invention are related to systems and methods fornavigating a software application. More specifically, certainembodiments of the present invention relate to systems and methods thattrigger actions or sets of actions within a software applicationexecuted on a mobile device based at least in part on locationidentifiers.

A representative embodiment of the present invention aids users ofsoftware applications executed on mobile devices to navigate thesoftware applications based at least in part on location identifiersreceived at the mobile device indicating a location of the mobiledevice.

Various embodiments provide a system 200 configured to navigate asoftware application 232. In a representative embodiment of the presentinvention, the system 200 comprises at least one processing unit 220.The processing unit 220 may be configured to execute the softwareapplication 232 and receive a location identifier identifying a locationof the system 200. The processing unit 220 can be configured to apply anavigation rule 235 based at least in part on the received locationidentifier to determine a software application action and execute thedetermined software application action to select information of thesoftware application 232.

Certain embodiments provide a method 300 for navigating a softwareapplication 232. In a representative embodiment of the presentinvention, the method 300 comprises executing 310, by at least oneprocessing unit 220 of a mobile computing system 200, the softwareapplication 232. The method 300 comprises receiving 320, by theprocessing unit 220, a location identifier identifying a location of themobile computing system 200. The method 300 comprises applying 330, bythe processing unit 220, a navigation rule 235 based at least in part onthe received location identifier to determine a software applicationaction. The method comprises executing 340, by the processing unit 220,the determined software application action to select information of thesoftware application 232.

As utilized herein, the terms “exemplary” or “example” means serving asa non-limiting example, instance, or illustration. As utilized herein,the term “e.g.” introduces a list of one or more non-limiting examples,instances, or illustrations.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary system 100 in which arepresentative embodiment of the present invention may be practiced. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, the system 100 includes an e-commerce system 150comprising one or more web servers 154, one or more database servers156, and one or more application servers 152. The elements of thee-commerce system 150 may be interconnected, and may singly or as agroup be connected to Internet 105 via communication link 107, which mayemploy any suitable combination of wired or wireless data communicationlinks. FIG. 1 also includes personal computers (PCs) 110, 115, which areconnected to the Internet 105 by communications links 108, 109,respectively, which may be any suitable combination of wired or wirelessdata communication links. PCs 110, 115 may be any of, for example, adesktop computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a netbookcomputer, a tablet computer, or any other electronic device havingcapabilities suitable for accessing the Internet 105 from, for example,a home, a small business, or any private or public area having suitablesupport for communications links 108, 109.

In addition, FIG. 1 illustrates a user communication device 125 that maycomprise, for example, a tablet computer, smart phone, or other handheldelectronic device capable of communicating to the e-commerce system 150via a wireless network 120, a communication link 127, and the Internet105. The communication device 125 of FIG. 1 may include suitablesoftware applications, hardware, and logic to permit the communicationdevice to display received web pages and other forms of digitalinformation on a display of the communication device 125, and suitableuser interface elements to permit a user to interact with the e-commercesystem 150 using tactual, speech, and other forms of input. The wirelessnetwork 120 may support communication of digital information using anysuitable wireless access technology including, for example, anycombination of short-range, long range, Wi-Fi, cellular, personalcommunication system (PCS), Bluetooth, Near Field communication (NFC),radio frequency identification (RFID), to name only a few possible airinterface technologies.

FIG. 1 also includes a portable telephone 130 that may be capable ofcommunicating over one or more of a cellular, PCS, Wi-Fi, or otherwireless communication network, and may have more limited yet sufficientfunctionality to interact with the e-commerce system 150 than thatavailable from the PCs 110, 115 and the communication device 125.

In addition, FIG. 1 illustrates a kiosk device 135, which may permitusers in retail and public venues to access the e-commerce system 150.The kiosk device 135 may be designed for indoor or outdoor use, and maybe linked to the e-commerce system 150 via a communication link 137 andInternet 105, as shown, or may communicate directly with the e-commercesystem 150 using any other suitable wired or wireless means. The kiosk135 may have functionality that is equivalent, greater than, or lessthan the personal computers 110, 115, the communications device 125, andthe cellular telephone 130.

The illustration of FIG. 1 also shows a retail establishment 160 thatmay, for example, be a “brick-and-mortar” business associated with theoperator or sponsor of the e-commerce system 150. The retailestablishment 160 may include a kiosk 164 that may support access to thee-commerce system 150 from the retail establishment 160, for those usersthat are located within the retail establishment 160. The illustrationof FIG. 1 also includes a communication device 162 that may permit asales associate and/or a customer of the retail establishment 160 to,for example, electronically access information about products and/orservices available at the retail establishment 160, at other businesslocations of the operator of the retail establishment 160, or at otherbusinesses operated by, for example, the operator, or businesses thatpartner with the operator of the e-commerce system 150. Thecommunication device 162 may comprise, for example, a tablet computer,smart phone, or other handheld electronic device. The communicationdevice 162 may include suitable software applications, hardware, andlogic to permit the communication device to display received web pagesand other forms of digital information on a display of the communicationdevice 125, and suitable user interface elements to permit a user tointeract with the e-commerce system 150 using tactual, speech, and otherforms of input. Communication devices within the retail business 160such as, for example, the communication device 162 and the kiosk 164 maycommunicate with the e-commerce system 150 via the Internet 105 and thecommunication link 167, which may be, for example, any suitablecombination of wired and/or wireless communication technologies.

In accordance with a representative embodiment of the present invention,the elements of a system such as the e-commerce system 150 of FIG. 1 mayinclude the functionality in a software application that enables usermembership in a loyalty program of a business operator or sponsor of thee-commerce system 150, and the engagement of users in various events andactivities. The e-commerce system 150 may include a software platformwhich tracks social interactions of users, and may track the activitiesof each member of the loyalty program. The tracking capabilities mayinclude a flexible interaction tracking framework that supports multiplesocial interactions of the members. In addition, the softwareapplication may support interfacing a variety of user communicationdevices including, for example, tablet, desktop, notebook, notepad, andnetwork computers, cellular telephone and smart phones, public andprivate kiosks, and other suitable electronic user communication devicesavailable at the present time or in the future.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary computing system 200 in whicha representative embodiment of the present invention may be practiced.In various embodiments, the computing system 200 may correspond with oneor more of the PCs 110, 115, user communication device 125, and/or thecommunication device 162, among other things, as illustrated in FIG. 1.In various embodiments, computing system 200 may be a mobile device, forexample. Referring to FIG. 2, the computing system 200 includes adisplay 210, a processing unit 220, memory 230, user input device(s)240, and communications connection(s) 250, among other things.Components of the computing system 200 may be implemented in software,hardware, firmware, and/or the like. The various components of thecomputing system 200 may be communicatively linked. Components of thecomputing system 200 may be implemented separately and/or integrated invarious forms. For example, the display 210 and the user input device240 may be integrated as a touchscreen display.

The display 210 may be any device capable of communicating visualinformation to a user. For example, a display 210 may include a liquidcrystal diode display, a light emitting diode display, and/or anysuitable display. The display 210 can be operable to display pages of asoftware application 232, or any suitable information. In variousembodiments, the display 210 may display information provided by theprocessing unit 220, for example.

The processing unit 220 may be one or more central processing units,microprocessors, microcontrollers, and/or the like. The processing unit220 may be an integrated component, or may be distributed across variouslocations, for example. The processing unit 220 may be capable ofexecuting a software application 232, receiving input information from auser input device 240 and/or communication connection(s) 250, andgenerating an output displayable by a display 210, among other things.The processing unit 220 may be capable of executing any of the method(s)and/or set(s) of instructions discussed below in accordance with thepresent invention, for example. In certain embodiments, the processingunit 220 may access and apply navigation rules 235 from memory 230 todetermine a software application action or set of actions based at leastin part on received information received from user input device(s) 240and/or communication connection(s) 250, such as computer system locationidentifiers, for example.

The memory 230 may be one or more computer-readable memories, forexample, such as a hard disk, floppy disk, CD, CD-ROM, DVD, compactstorage, flash memory, random access memory, read-only memory,electrically erasable and programmable read-only memory and/or anysuitable memory. The memory 230 may include databases, libraries, setsof information, or other storage accessed by and/or incorporated withthe processing unit 220, for example. The memory 230 may be able tostore data temporarily or permanently, for example. The memory 230 maybe capable of storing data generated by the processing unit 220 and/orinstructions readable by the processing unit 220, among other things. Invarious embodiments, the memory stores one or more software applications232 and/or software application navigation rules 235. The softwareapplication navigation rules 235 may correspond with one or moresoftware applications 232, and/or one or more users or groups of users,for example. As an example, in a retail environment, customers and salesassociates using a computer system 200 may execute different softwareapplications 232 and/or different sets of navigation rules 235. Thesoftware application 232 and/or set of navigation rules 235 can bedetermined by default, user selection, login information, and/or anysuitable selection mechanism. Certain embodiments provide that thenavigation rules 235 may be accessed by the processing unit 220 todetermine a software application action or set of actions, for example.

The navigation rules 235 may comprise rules for navigating a softwareapplication 232 based at least in part on information received from userinput device(s) 240 and/or communication connection(s) 250, for example.As an example, location identifiers received over communicationconnection(s) 250 (e.g., geo-location, Wi-Fi triangulation, etc.information associated with a location of the computing system 200)and/or from user input device(s) 240 (e.g., RFID tag, NFC tag, etc.information associated with a location of the computing system 200) maybe associated with an action or set of actions for navigating a softwareapplication 232 as defined by the navigation rules 235. In a retailenvironment, navigation rules 235 may define that location identifiersidentifying a position of the computing system 200 to be near afront-loading washing machine section of a retail store trigger actionsor sets of actions for navigating the software application 232 toinformation and/or pages related to front-loading washing machines, forexample. As such, the navigation rules 235 may align a footprint of aretail store representing a tangible hierarchical navigation with avirtual software application 232 hierarchy to define resulting actions.

In various embodiments, the navigation rules 235 may define actions orsets of actions for combinations of information received from user inputdevice(s) 240 and/or communication connection(s) 250, for example. As anexample, the navigation rules 235 may be applied based on a combinationof location identifiers and user inputs. In a retail environment,location identifiers identifying a position of the computing system 200to be near a front-loading washing machine section of a retail store maytrigger actions or sets of actions for navigating the softwareapplication 232 to information and/or pages related to front-loadingwashing machines, and additional input information (e.g., buttondepressions, touchscreen selections, computer system orientation and/ormovement detections, and/or voice commands, among other things) cantrigger actions or sets of actions for further navigating the softwareapplication 232 to information and/or pages related to, for example, aparticular front-loading washing machine, front-loading washing machinereviews, a purchase page, front-loading washing machine comparisoninformation, front-loading washing machine accessory information, and/orany suitable information as defined by the navigation rules 235.

The user input device(s) 240 may include any device(s) capable ofcommunicating information from a user and/or at the direction of theuser to the processing unit 220 of the computing system 200, forexample. The user input device(s) 240 may include button(s), atouchscreen, near field communication (NFC) readers, radio frequencyidentification (RFID) readers, motion tracking, orientation detection,voice recognition, a mousing device, keyboard, and/or any other devicecapable of receiving a user directive. In certain embodiments, one ormore of the user input devices 240 may be integrated into othercomponents, such as the display 210, for example. As an example, userinput device 240 may include a touchscreen display 210.

In various embodiments, the information provided by the user inputdevice(s) 240 to the processing unit 220 may be processed by theprocessing unit 220 to navigate a software application 232, for example.As an example, button depressions, touchscreen selections, computersystem orientation and/or movement detections, NFC tag information, RFIDtag information, and/or voice commands, among other things, may bereceived from the user input device(s) 240 and processed by theprocessing unit 220 to trigger a software application action or set ofactions as defined by navigation rules 235 to navigate the softwareapplication 232 on a display 210. Aspects of the present technologyprovide that NFC tag information, RFID tag information, and/or the likemay identify a location, among other things. For example, in a retailenvironment, if an NFC reader, RFID reader, or the like, of thecomputing system 200 is waved near a tag in the proximity offront-loading washing machines in a retail store, the tag informationmay trigger an action or set of actions to navigate a softwareapplication 232 to display information related to front-loading washingmachines.

The communication connection(s) 250 allow communication between thecomputing system 200 and other external systems, for example. Thecommunication connection(s) 250 may include wired and/or wirelessconnections, for example. Wireless connections may include, for example,any combination of short-range, long range, Wi-Fi, cellular, personalcommunication system (PCS), Bluetooth, Near Field communication (NFC),radio frequency identification (RFID), or any suitable wirelessconnection.

In various embodiments, the information provided by the communicationconnection(s) 250 to the processing unit 220 may be processed by theprocessing unit 220 to navigate a software application 232, for example.As an example, geo-location and Wi-Fi triangulation information, amongother things, may be received from the communication connection(s) 250and processed by the processing unit 220 to trigger a softwareapplication action or set of actions as defined by navigation rules 235to navigate the software application 232 on a display 210. Aspects ofthe present technology provide that geo-location information, Wi-Fitriangulation information, and the like, may identify a location, amongother things. For example, in a retail environment, if the processingunit 220 receives geo-location information, Wi-Fi triangulationinformation, or the like, over communication connection(s) 250indicating that the computing system 200 is in the proximity offront-loading washing machines in a retail store, the information maytrigger an action or set of actions to navigate a software application232 to display information related to front-loading washing machines.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for navigating asoftware application 232, in accordance with a representative embodimentof the present invention. The actions of the method of FIG. 3 may beperformed using elements of the computing system 200 of FIG. 2including, for example, the display 210, processing unit 220, memory 230(including navigation rules 235), user input device(s) 240, and/orcommunications connection(s) 250. The computing system 200 may bearranged to support the navigation of a software application 232executed on the computing system, for example.

The method of FIG. 3 begins at block 310, where the processing unit 220executes a software application 232. The executed software application232 may, for example, be displayed on the display 210 of the computingsystem 200. Next, at block 320, the processing unit 220 may receive alocation identifier from one or more of the user input device(s) 240 andthe communication connection(s) 250. The location identifier mayinclude, for example, RFID tags, NFC tags, geo-location information,Wi-Fi triangulation information, and/or any suitable informationidentifying the location of the computing system 200.

Following receipt of the location identifier, the method of FIG. 3 may,at block 330 commence applying navigation rules 235, by the processingunit 220, based at least in part on the received location identifier todetermine a software application or set of actions. For example, thenavigation rules 235 may define that the received location identifier isassociated with certain information and/or one or more pages of asoftware application 232. The navigation rules 235 may be accessed frommemory 230 and can comprise rules for navigating a software application232. The navigation rules 235 may correspond with one or more softwareapplications 232, and/or one or more users or groups of users, forexample. The software application 232 and/or set of navigation rules 235can be determined by default, user selection, login information, and/orany suitable selection mechanism.

Once a software action or set of actions is determined, the processingunit 220, at block 340, may execute the determined software applicationaction or set of actions to navigate the software application 232 on thedisplay 210. The action or set of actions may include, for example,navigation actions for selecting a particular page and/or information todisplay on the display 210.

In operation, a computing system 200, which may be a mobile device suchas a mobile phone, personal digital assistant, tablet computer, laptopcomputer, or any suitable mobile device, operated by a user may executea software application 232 stored in memory 230 of the computing system200. The software application 232 may be executed by a processing unit220 of the computing system 200. The software application 232 can beselected by default, user selection, login information, and/or anysuitable selection mechanism. The software application 232 maycorrespond with one or more sets of navigation rules 235 stored inmemory 230. The one or more sets of navigation rules 235 may beassociated with one or more users or groups of users, for example. Theset of navigation rules applied to navigate the selected softwareapplication 232 can be determined by default, user selection, logininformation, and/or any suitable selection mechanism.

While the computing system 200 is executing the software application232, the processing unit 220 may receive location identifiers from userinput device(s) 240 and/or communication connection(s) 250 identifying alocation of the computing system 200. For example, a tag reader (e.g.,NFC or RFID) may scan a tag and communicate the tag information to theprocessing unit 220. The tag information may correspond with a locationof the computing system 200. As another example, location information(e.g., geo-location or Wi-Fi triangulation) may be received overcommunication connection(s) 250 at the processing unit 220 identifyingthe location of the computing system 200. The processing unit 220 mayapply the selected set of navigation rules 235 based at least in part onthe received location identifiers to determine a software applicationaction or set of actions. For example, if the user is a sales associateassisting a customer in a retail environment, the location of thecomputing system 200 operated by the sales associate may correspond withan action or set of actions for navigating the software application 232to information and/or pages of the software application 232 that relateto nearby products or services in the retail store.

In certain embodiments, the processing unit 220 may additionally and/oralternatively receive user inputs from user input device(s) 240 and/orcommunication connection(s) 250. The processing unit 220 may apply theselected set of navigation rules 235 based at least in part on thereceived user inputs to determine a software application action or setof actions. For example, user inputs (e.g., button depressions,touchscreen selections, computer system orientation and/or movementdetections, and/or voice commands, among other things) can triggeractions or sets of actions for further navigating the softwareapplication 232 to information and/or pages as defined by the navigationrules 235.

Aspects of the present invention may be seen in a system 200 configuredto navigate a software application 232. In a representative embodimentof the present invention, the system 200 comprises at least oneprocessing unit 220. The processing unit 220 may be configured toexecute the software application 232 and receive a location identifieridentifying a location of the system 200. The processing unit 220 can beconfigured to apply a navigation rule 235 based at least in part on thereceived location identifier to determine a software application actionand execute the determined software application action to selectinformation of the software application 232.

In various embodiments, the system 200 comprises a display 210configured to display the selected information. In certain embodiments,the selected information comprises a page of the software application232. In a representative embodiment of the present invention, the system200 comprises a memory 230 configured to store one or more of thesoftware application 232 and the navigation rule 235. In variousembodiments, the system 200 comprises a plurality of navigation rulessets 235. The navigation rule 235 is associated with one of theplurality of navigation rule sets 235. In certain embodiments, each ofthe plurality of navigation rule sets 235 is associated with at leastone of one of a plurality of users, one of a plurality of user groups,and one of a plurality of software applications 232.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, the system 200comprises one or more of a user input device 240 and a communicationconnection 250 configured to provide the processing unit 220 with thelocation identifier. In various embodiments, the user input device 240comprises one or more of a Near Field Communication (NFC) reader, and aradio frequency identification (RFID) reader. In certain embodiments,the location identifier comprises one or more of tag information,geo-location information, and Wi-Fi triangulation information. In arepresentative embodiment of the present invention, the system 200 is amobile device.

Various embodiments provide a method 300 for navigating a softwareapplication 232. In a representative embodiment of the presentinvention, the method 300 comprises executing 310, by at least oneprocessing unit 220 of a mobile computing system 200, the softwareapplication 232. The method 300 comprises receiving 320, by theprocessing unit 220, a location identifier identifying a location of themobile computing system 200. The method 300 comprises applying 330, bythe processing unit 220, a navigation rule 235 based at least in part onthe received location identifier to determine a software applicationaction. The method comprises executing 340, by the processing unit 220,the determined software application action to select information of thesoftware application 232.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, the method 300comprises displaying 340 the selected information. In certainembodiments, the selected information comprises a page of the softwareapplication 232. In various embodiments, the method 300 comprisesstoring at least one of the software application 232 and the navigationrule in a memory 230. In a representative embodiment of the presentinvention, the navigation rule 235 is associated with one of a pluralityof navigation rule sets 235. In various embodiments, each of theplurality of navigation rule sets is associated with at least one of oneof a plurality of users, one of a plurality of user groups, and one of aplurality of software applications 232.

In certain embodiments, the method 300 comprises selecting the softwareapplication 232 for execution, wherein the selecting is based on one ormore of a default setting, a user selection, and login information. In arepresentative embodiment of the present invention, the method 300comprises selecting a set of navigation rules comprising the navigationrule based on one or more of a default setting, a user selection, andlogin information. In various embodiments, the location identifiercomprises one or more one of tag information, geo-location information,and Wi-Fi triangulation information.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, the method 300comprises receiving, by the processing unit 220, a user input. Themethod 300 comprises applying, by the processing unit 220, a navigationrule 235 based at least in part on the received user input to determinea software application action. The method 300 comprises executing, bythe processing unit 220, the determined software application action toselect information of the software application 232 to display.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of aset of instructions intended to cause a system having an informationprocessing capability to perform a particular function either directlyor after either or both of the following: a) conversion to anotherlanguage, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different materialform.

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. The presentinvention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least onecomputer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elementsare spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind ofcomputer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computer system with a computerprogram that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computersystem such that it carries out the methods described herein.

Although devices, methods, and systems according to the presentinvention may have been described in connection with a preferredembodiment, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form setforth herein, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover suchalternative, modifications, and equivalents, as can be reasonablyincluded within the scope of the invention as defined by this disclosureand appended diagrams.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material tothe teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope.Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention willinclude all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile device configured to navigate a softwareapplication, the mobile device comprising: at least one processing unitconfigured to: execute the software application having a plurality ofexisting software application pages stored at the mobile device, whereineach of the plurality of existing software application pages isassociated, by a plurality of navigation rules, with a locationidentifier location corresponding with a specific location of one ormore of a category of products, a specific product, or a service in aretail environment; receive a location identifier identifying a devicelocation of the mobile device executing the software application that isat the specific location of the one or more of the product category, thespecific product, or the service in the retail environment; apply anavigation rule from the plurality of navigation rules stored at themobile device based at least in part on the received location identifierto determine a software application action of the executed softwareapplication, wherein the plurality of navigation rules definesassociations between a plurality of location identifier locations andthe plurality of existing software application pages of the executedsoftware application; and execute the determined software applicationaction to select and display a software application page from theplurality of existing software application pages of the executedsoftware application, the software application page associated with thereceived location identifier by the navigation rule, wherein theexecution of the determined software application action to select anddisplay the software application page is triggered by the at least oneprocessing unit receiving the location identifier identifying the devicelocation is at the specific location of the one or more of the categoryof products, the specific product, or the service in the retailenvironment; one or both of a tag reader and a communication connectionconfigured to provide the at least one processing unit with the locationidentifier; and a display configured to present the software applicationpage automatically selected from the plurality of existing softwareapplication pages of the executed software application.
 2. The mobiledevice according to claim 1, wherein the selected and displayed softwareapplication page provides information related to the category ofproducts at the device location in the retail environment.
 3. The mobiledevice according to claim 1, wherein the selected and displayed softwareapplication page provides information related to the specific product atthe device location in the retail environment.
 4. The mobile deviceaccording to claim 1, comprising a memory configured to store at leastone of the software application and the navigation rule.
 5. The mobiledevice according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of navigation rulessets, wherein the navigation rule is associated with one of theplurality of navigation rule sets.
 6. The mobile device according toclaim 5, wherein each of the plurality of navigation rule sets isassociated with at least one of: one of a plurality of users, one of aplurality of user groups, and one of a plurality of softwareapplications.
 7. The mobile device according to claim 1, wherein the tagreader comprises at least one of: a Near Field Communication (NFC)reader, and a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader.
 8. Themobile device according to claim 1, wherein the location identifiercomprises at least one of: tag information, geo-location information,and Wi-Fi triangulation information.
 9. A method for navigating asoftware application, the method comprising: executing, by at least oneprocessing unit of a mobile computing system, the software applicationhaving a plurality of existing software application pages stored at themobile computing system, wherein each of the plurality of existingsoftware application pages is associated, by a plurality of navigationrules, with a location identifier location corresponding with a specificlocation of one or more of a category of products, a specific product,or a service in a retail environment; receiving, by the at least oneprocessing unit from one or both of a tag reader and a communicationconnection of the mobile computing system, a location identifieridentifying a device location of the mobile computing system executingthe software application that is at the specific location of the one ormore of the product category, the specific product, or the service inthe retail environment; applying, by the at least one processing unit, anavigation rule from the plurality of navigation rules stored at themobile computing system based at least in part on the received locationidentifier to determine a software application action of the executedsoftware application, wherein the plurality of navigation rules definesassociations between a plurality of location identifier locations andthe plurality of existing software application pages of the executedsoftware application; and executing, by the at least one processingunit, the determined software application action to select and display,at a display of the mobile computing system, a software application pagefrom the plurality of existing software application pages of theexecuted software application, the software application page associatedwith the received location identifier by the navigation rule, whereinthe execution of the determined software application action to selectand display the software application page is triggered by the at leastone processing unit receiving the location identifier identifying thedevice location is at the specific location of the one or more of thecategory of products, the specific product, or the service in the retailenvironment.
 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the selectedand displayed software application page provides information related tothe category of products at the device location in the retailenvironment.
 11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the selectedand displayed software application page provides information related tothe specific product at the device location in the retail environment.12. The method according to claim 9, comprising storing at least one ofthe software application and the navigation rule in a memory.
 13. Themethod according to claim 9, wherein the navigation rule is associatedwith one of a plurality of navigation rule sets.
 14. The methodaccording to claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of navigation rulesets is associated with at least one of: one of a plurality of users,one of a plurality of user groups, and one of a plurality of softwareapplications.
 15. The method according to claim 9, comprising selectingthe software application for execution, wherein the selecting is basedon at least one of: a default setting, a user selection, and logininformation.
 16. The method according to claim 9, comprising selecting aset of navigation rules comprising the navigation rule based on at leastone of: a default setting, a user selection, and login information. 17.The method according to claim 9, wherein the location identifiercomprises at least one of: tag information, geo-location information,and Wi-Fi triangulation information.
 18. The method according to claim9, comprising: receiving, by the at least one processing unit, a userinput; applying, by the at least one processing unit, a navigation rulebased at least in part on the received user input to determine asoftware application action; and executing, by the at least oneprocessing unit, the determined software application action to selectinformation of the software application to display.
 19. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium encoded with a set of instructions, the set ofinstructions being executable by a mobile device for causing the mobiledevice to perform steps comprising: executing a software applicationhaving a plurality of existing software application pages stored at themobile device, wherein each of the plurality of existing softwareapplication pages is associated, by a plurality of navigation rules,with a location identifier location corresponding with a specificlocation of one or more of a category of products, a specific product,or a service in a retail environment; receiving, from one or both of atag reader and a communication connection of the mobile device, alocation identifier identifying a device location of the mobile deviceexecuting the software application that is at the specific location ofthe one or more of the product category, the specific product, or theservice in the retail environment; applying a navigation rule from theplurality of navigation rules stored at the mobile device based at leastin part on the received location identifier to determine a softwareapplication action of the executed software application, wherein theplurality of navigation rules defines associations between a pluralityof location identifier locations and the plurality of existing softwareapplication pages of the executed software application; and executingthe determined software application action to select and display asoftware application page from the plurality of existing softwareapplication pages of the executed software application on a display ofthe mobile device, the software application page associated with thereceived location identifier by the navigation rule, wherein theexecution of the determined software application action to select anddisplay the software application page is triggered by the at least oneprocessing unit receiving the location identifier identifying the devicelocation is at the specific location of the one or more of the categoryof products, the specific product, or the service in the retailenvironment.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium encodedwith the set of instructions according to claim 19, wherein the selectedand displayed software application page provides information related tothe category of products at the device location in the retailenvironment.
 21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium encodedwith the set of instructions according to claim 19, wherein the selectedand displayed software application page provides information related tothe specific product at the device location in the retail environment.22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with the set ofinstructions according to claim 19, comprising storing at least one ofthe software application and the navigation rule in a memory.
 23. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with the set ofinstructions according to claim 19, wherein the navigation rule isassociated with one of a plurality of navigation rule sets.
 24. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with the set ofinstructions according to claim 23, wherein each of the plurality ofnavigation rule sets is associated with at least one of: one of aplurality of users, one of a plurality of user groups, and one of aplurality of software applications.
 25. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium encoded with the set of instructions accordingto claim 19, comprising selecting the software application forexecution, wherein the selecting is based on at least one of: a defaultsetting, a user selection, and login information.
 26. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium encoded with the set of instructions accordingto claim 19, comprising selecting a set of navigation rules comprisingthe navigation rule based on at least one of: a default setting, a userselection, and login information.
 27. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium encoded with the set of instructions accordingto claim 19, wherein the location identifier comprises at least one of:tag information, geo-location information, and Wi-Fi triangulationinformation.
 28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium encodedwith the set of instructions according to claim 19, comprising:receiving a user input; applying a navigation rule based at least inpart on the received user input to determine a software applicationaction; and executing the determined software application action toselect information of the software application to display.
 29. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with the set ofinstructions according to claim 19, wherein the navigation rule from theplurality of navigation rules is applied based solely on the receivedlocation identifier to determine a software application action of theexecuted software application.
 30. The system according to claim 1,wherein the navigation rule from the plurality of navigation rules isapplied based solely on the received location identifier to determinethe software application action of the executed software application.31. The method according to claim 9, wherein the applying the navigationrule from the plurality of navigation rules is based solely on thereceived location identifier to determine the software applicationaction of the executed software application.